Friday, November 20, 2015

New Perspectives on an Old Subject: Trade and Native American Relations at Fort Hunter

Although the subject of Fort
Hunter has been covered a number of times in the TWIPA blog, research conducted
over the past year indicates that there was more going on in the area of Fort
Hunter than was previously known. Prior to becoming the French and Indian War
post of Fort Hunter, this area was known as “Chambers’ Mill” or “Chambers at
Paxtang”, named for its early occupants, brothers Robert, Joseph, James, and
Benjamin Chambers. Eventually, the
brothers moved across the Susquehanna River except Joseph who operated a grist
mill as well as possibly a gunsmith/blacksmith shop on the property.

1755 Evans Map Showing the Location of
Chambers’ Mill North of the Kittatinny Mountain

Chambers’ Mill appears to have
become a widely-known location utilized as a gathering place starting soon
after the Chambers’ initial settlement. In 1744, the murder of several white
men, including the trader John Armstrong, by the Indians occasioned a meeting of
John Harris and other locals “at the House of Joseph Chambers in Paxton” who “there
Consulted to go to Samokin [Shamokin], To Consult with the Delaware King &
Secalima [Shikellamy] & their Council”.

Again in 1744, a council for
the Lancaster Treaty brought a large number of the Six Nations natives to the
area to consult with the governments of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
Conrad Weiser met these Indians and brought them through Paxtang on their way
to Lancaster City. On June 16th, 19th, and 20th
he purchased supplies at Chambers’ and from Simon Girty, Sr., an unlicensed
trader who is known to have traded at Chamber’s Mill. Weiser’s journal
indicated that he purchased “three hundredweight of flour from Joseph Chambers
and five Shillings worth of Bread and Milk of Simon girty” as well as a steer,
rum, and tobacco to feed and entertain the Indians.

In the summer of 1747, Weiser,
passing through the area on his way north, “found Shickelimy at the house of
Joseph Chambers, in Paxton, with two of his sons and a man of note from the
Canickquon Country.” Weiser “stayed two days and two nights at Joseph Chambers
with the said Indians, discoursed with them, and I entertained in the best
manner I could”. Other noted visitors to
Chambers’ Mill in the 1740s included the Indian missionaries David Brainerd,
Anton Schmidt, and Bishop John Christopher Frederick Cammerhoff.

Other than foodstuffs, alcohol,
and tobacco, it is unclear what was being traded at Chambers’ Mill but it is
likely that Joseph and his son James were also conducting trade. Following
James’ death in 1763, an inventory of his belongings listed tomahawks, brass
kettles, cloth and thread, matchcoats, Indian shirts, handkerchiefs, “2 Silver
Hair plates” and “2400 Black Wompum” indicating the likelihood that he was
engaging in trading activities with the natives. In 1764, a letter written from
Fort Hunter to James Burd references Dennis McCormick’s desire to “dispose of
all ye Hyds” that McCormick has at the fort. This indicates that
animal skins were possibly being traded for goods here.

A number of other trade
locations were available in the vicinity of Chambers during this period. John
Harris at Harris’ Ferry (later Harrisburg) and John Carson were located just to
the south, while the Armstrong’s and Thomas McKee had trade posts to the north
along the river. Whether it was to trade, to bring grain to the mill, to attend
a council, or to visit the smithy for gun repairs, it is clear that something
was drawing the natives to visit Chambers’ Mill. On his 1748 trip to Shamokin,
Bishop Cammerhoff notes that he and his companion overtook two Indians in the
woods “who lived fifty miles above Shamokin” who were “returning from Chamber’s
Mill”, indicating the distances that some went to get to the mill location.

It is likely that Samuel Hunter,
for whom the fort was known, was also trading with Indians at the property. A
trade license was issued to Hunter for the year 1766 that gave him “Licence to
trade with the Nations or Tribes of Indians, with whom his Majefty is
connected, and who live under his protection…” A licensed trader was required
to give bond of £100 at
a quarter session of county court, allowing him to set up a legal trade at
government forts or posts. Although 1766 was the only year a license is known
to exist for Hunter it is possible he was trading with Indians at Fort Hunter
during the war.

1766 Trade License for Samuel Hunter (PHMC
Archives)

Although no definitive account
of the types of goods being traded at Chambers’ Mill has yet been discovered, a
number of artifacts recovered from the site indicate the possibility of a link
to native visitations. Eighteenth century glass trade beads and cut scrap
brass, prized by the Indians for ornamentation, have been found during
excavations. In 2015, four glass trade beads were recovered from newly-opened
test units on the east side of the back porch, as were fragments of brass and
brass ornaments.

Gun parts recovered from the
site could be associated with military activities at the fort but may also reflect
pre-war use of the smithy and could represent native weapons brought in for
repair. This could be one reason that Indians were traveling long distances to
visit the site, as the Moravian smithy at Fort Augusta was not constructed
until the winter of 1747-48. Other items that have been found at the Fort
Hunter excavations, such as knives, combs, scissors, buttons, straight pins,
and mirrors could represent trade goods as easily as objects associated with
the military occupation or even household goods of the Chambers or Hunter
families.

More documentary research and
comparison of the collection will need to be undertaken in order to detail the
nature of the objects recovered from Fort Hunter. A more careful inspection of
the entire collection may reveal that objects thought to have been associated
with the fort occupation are possibly instead related to trade activities. Through
such work it is hoped that a better understanding of the early trade and Indian
relations at this site will emerge.

References:

Cammerhoff, Bishop John Christopher
Frederick and John W. Jordan 1905“Bishop
J.C.F. Cammerhoff’s Narrative of a Journey to Shamokin, Penna., in the Winter
of 1748”. The Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 160-179.

Evans, Lewis

1755 A General Map of the Middle British Colonies
in America. Evans: London.

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One Tank Trip

WFMZ-TV 69 from Reading, Pennsylvania visited The State Museum of Pennsylvania on February 8th, 2017. Karin Mallett prepared a feature piece on great places to visit that are one tank of gas from Reading and our gallery was the focus of this visit. Karin interviewed Kurt Carr, Senior Curator and Janet Johnson in the gallery and provide a nice overview of the spectacular exhibits. Please click on the link below and enjoy this glimpse of the museum during this One Tank Trip!
One Tank Trip: Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology

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